Don’t get me wrong, it’s not difficult. If you fail a few times in a row, it even asks if you’d like to skip that section. But it rarely feels like you’re properly in control. I can’t help but think that rhythm game mechanics would have worked better – particularly considering the musical essence of the game.

Had it been stripped away of some of its convoluted system, and instead focused on one or two features and story beats to go alongside its high level of polish and presentation, Unsighted would be a GOTY contender. But in trying desperately to be everything, Unsighted loses sight of the aspects that make it unique in an ever-expanding marketplace of retro-inspired Mentroidvanias. As a result, it’s an enjoyable, but ultimately forgettable experience.

Hypnospace Outlaw’s imitation of technology from days of yore is commendable, along with capturing the fallible, human ways we interacted with it. Although it may not be the most well-structured experience and is guilty of running its own well of novelty dry, it offers a mostly delightful few hours of misty-eyed laughs and surprises.

I can easily recommend this game — it’s enjoyable, attractive, and fleshed out. I do think having to wait around fifteen hours for an emotional hook might be pushing it (especially if, like me, you love story and character), but again, this could change as you push into your sixteenth hour and beyond.

The story makes the whole experience rich, and although it’s Unknown World’s first stab at fully acted and voiced cutscenes, the characters are well written, and voiced with nuance and warmth. It doesn’t add anything revelatory to the world of Subnautica, but there is still a sense of accepting the past, of moving forward—fitting for a game about exploring areas and mining material to build and survive, but with little incentive to return to them once they have outlived their usefulness.

Blake: The Visual Novel was a promising debut from Ori Mees; Blake made me laugh a few times, and stressed me out over making the right decisions at other points. I felt compelled to read it through to the end, which is more than I can say for other visual novels I’ve muddled through recently. Even though Blake definitely displays the tell-tale, first-project symptom of doing too much in too little time, it has definitely convinced me to keep an eye on the developer’s future projects.

The Vale is very much an experience, and it’s one I found interesting, even if it felt a little frustrating at times. The truth is, there just aren’t many games like this, and The Vale’s innovative take on accessible gameplay made it worth overlooking its flaws. It’s not perfect, but it’s interesting, and I’ll choose that over perfect every time.

In the last few years it’s become a running gag within indie circles that Metroidvania and soulslike games are the go-to genres to build your game around. Unfortunately, Grime wears that on its shoulder with pride, instead of doing anything remotely interesting. In essence, it’s the software equivalent of saying ‘only fans of the soulikes genre will enjoy this’.

Although I didn’t connect with most of Irony Curtain’s writing and references, I can see how someone would. If anything, the point-and-click puzzling style is good enough here to warrant a try.

The game is not forgiving, but if you are in the market for an environmental puzzler and enjoy splashing limbs every which way, then it may just be for you. It really makes you feel like Spider-Man if spiderman was a cybernetic murderninja set on saving the last vestiges of humanity from the ravage of poor architectural design.

Rune Factory 4 Special has so many layers to it that you can’t help but be fascinated by its charm. The town has a tight-knit feel to it, where each character has a unique, delightful personality. The variety in your side quests and the depth of each system can enthral you for hours. And while its combat is perfectly flawed, it’s a decent change to the life sim formula that other games haven’t quite nailed.

Svoboda 1945: Liberation is a game which explores how looking back at the past means different things for different groups of people. It’s a story about the difference between those who benefit from the act of looking back, and those who are punished and aggrieved instead.

In its quest to remove everything that ties it to the bigger games it emulates, The Pathless does lose something in the process. Purifying spirits feels slightly too brief, with their spectacle being overshadowed by the simplicity with which they are dispatched, and the automatic nature of arrow trajectory during puzzles can often make them feel little more than perfunctory at their worst. Nevertheless, The Pathless still excels in spite of these failings, simply because it attempts to tackle the homogenous open-world design in a novel way. Its use of scale imbues the experience with all the grandiosity of a 60-hour title, but the lack of friction and purity of vision means that it accomplishes its epic conflict in a tenth of the time and in doing so manages to leave a real impact.

With Hand of Gilgamech, Image & Form have shown that SteamWorld is truly a genre chameleon, moulding itself nicely into a CCG RPG.

While its level design is overly repetitious in both look and feel, Songbird Symphony still has plenty to be delighted about. A sweet story, fun musical stages and captivating animation make this avian adventure worth taking under your wing.

Horace is the titular character in this morality tale centered around how he’s treated by his rich masters and outsiders, though the gameplay itself mostly consists of brisk and entertaining obstacle courses involving lots of running and jumping. Horace isn’t groundbreaking or anything we haven’t seen before, but it’s quaint fun.

Pretty. Inoffensive. Rote. Others might find the DNA of something pure that they want to pass on to someone close: a niece or nephew, son or daughter. Trine is a series that is well worth introducing to those just getting to grips with the medium. And this installment adds to that library of introductory possibilities. But it doesn’t use the platform it has to push boundaries and explore the unknown in fairytale video games.

Overall, Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[cl-r] is a good fighting game, one that should help any interested players into the world of In-Birth, and maybe even bring back a few lost fans. That being said, it’s also effectively a remaster with a couple of small updates, so it stings a little to see it out in the world as a brand-new game. This is a great pick up if you’ve never played the series, but a far harder sell if you’re a long term fan who has bought every entry in the series so far, though you’ve probably already bought your copy if that’s the case.

Wintermoor Tactics Club is a lovely bit of escapism. Those looking for challenging strategy should look elsewhere, and its presentation lets it down in places, but this school-life D&D adventure has its heart in the right place.

As you progress through the levels, however, the game throws more and more obstacles your way – particularly barriers, which are difficult to telegraph and avoid, adding an unnecessary difficulty. Rather than keep the rhythm going, it frequently halts it, hindering the experience. Combined with Switch controls that make it hard to line up your ship properly, Aaero fails to impress.

If the game’s adventures were longer and more purposefully designed, they could be far more appealing. As it stands, Dicey Dungeons exists for players interested in its idiosyncrasies and punishing challenges.

There are a few quirks in Invector’s design, most notably that it forces you to play through the game on normal difficulty before it’ll let you attempt songs on hard – annoying if you’re a rhythm game veteran. I also struggled to set up the latency properly, with the in-built calibration tool setting it way off and requiring that I tweak it through trial and error. But this is otherwise an enjoyable rhythm game that gave me a new appreciation for Avicii’s music.

Valfaris will likely drive gamers to distraction and frustration with its series of brutal and difficult bosses and villains, crazy chase sequences, and general sadist design. Yet, the game’s pristine devotion to emulating a classic 16-bit side-scrolling shooter has a distinct charm. The weapons and enemies are diverse and fun, the world is twisted, and the sheer over-the-top action and storyline prove entertaining enough to work through the pain and still end up having fun. Mostly. When the game isn’t making you want to twist your controller in half.

Inertial Drift follows in the footsteps of Joy-con drift, meaning it has its issues. The game has great visuals, music and the drifting mechanic is a game-changer but it’s barebones gameplay apart from that makes this a game you’ll get bored of just as quickly as you learn to love. With some more refining, the ability to play against more racers and better and more varied game modes, this game could really be improved. I really wanted to like this game but for now, I’ll be keeping my eye out for an Inertial Drift 2.

Even with some messy execution on its political themes, Road 96 succeeds at capturing a fractious journey on the road and the turmoil of modern American politics. A deeper exploration of Petria’s history may give more context to the game’s narrative of taking change of your own destiny. But without this background, it ends up oversimplifying its premise by positing that the only barrier to equity and justice is a strongman in a suit. In reality, injustice runs far deeper.

Paper Beast is a memorable VR experience like no other, letting you play god in a world that feels godless. If only its puzzles – sometimes creative, but other times frustrating – didn’t get in its way, it would be an unconditional recommendation for lovers of bizarre escapism.

The gameplay is similar to other hidden object games, but the stylized look and groovy vibe give it a definite leg up. You’ll do a lot of tapping on things, object manipulation puzzles, and searching each room for hidden codes, safes and other secret things across a variety of locations and missions. Puzzles range from incredibly obvious to frustratingly obscure, but in general, Agent A is a solid little puzzler.

The level progression works particularly well, getting you used to the current mechanics and obstacles, and then just throwing brand news ones at you. Respawn points are generally conveniently placed, so constantly dying just figuring out what to do isn’t a particularly frustrating affair. The game is quirky, challenging, and clever enough to warrant a look.